Admission Portal Overview

Overview

The Veracross Admission Portal provides an interactive and engaging way to manage the admissions process. Applicants can apply online and manage their application through an online interface. Important application checklist items such as teacher recommendations, interview scheduling, and transcript uploads can be uploaded and managed from one location. Schools can also interact with applicants through this interface by leaving messages that communicate important date and event information or specific checklist item information. The Admission Portal allows for a deeper level of communication between the school and the applicant that impacts the admissions process from inquiry to final decision.

Admission Portal and the Applicants

The Admission Portal is primarily used by the parent of applicants. Families will complete the pre-application for one or more prospects. When the pre-application is submitted the family will receive an email containing their username and a link to set up their Admission Portal account. Clicking on the link will open the login screen to the Admission Portal where parents can set their password.

All applicants that the family submitted on the pre-application are visible in the left column of the portal homepage. Parents may start the application for any of their children by clicking the “View Application” button. As checklist items with a specific applicant’s application are completed, progress is tracked through the status bar located under the applicant’s name and by the colored flag on each application checklist item. Families who already exist in the system (i.e. faculty members) can also easily add new applicants using the “Add New Applicant” button to begin their admissions process through the portal.

Admission Portal and the School

All data collected in the Admission Portal automatically updates the applicant’s record in the database. This integration reduces the amount of duplicate records often created during the admissions process. When an applicant begins the admissions process, Household records and Person records will be automatically created in the database, limiting the amount of data entry required for both the school and applicant.

The Admission Portal also enhances communication between the school and the applicant. At any stage in the admissions process, schools can leave messages on the Admission Portal to communicate with applicants about important dates, upcoming events, checklist item specific information, etc.

Key Components

The Admission Portal is built off of a number of key components that both determines the flow through the admissions process and the configuration options for the portal.

Pre-Application

The pre-application is a web form that is accessible through a link on the school’s website. Applicants complete basic household, parent(s), and applicant(s) information and submit it to the school. This pre-application creates household and person records for the prospective parents and students and provides the parents and/or students with access to the Admission Portal. This form functions similarly to an inquiry form with the key difference that it enables user accounts for the portal to be created after the form is completed. Applicants may either jump to the login page for the Admission Portal from the “Finished” pre-application page or access it through the link provided in the welcome email.

User Accounts and Portal Access

Upon submissions of the pre-application, user accounts are created for parents of applicants and can be created for the applicants themselves depending on the school’s preference. The welcome email received upon submission of the pre-application contains the parent’s username and a link to the Admission Portal where they can set up their password. Parents of applicants may also jump straight to Admission Portal at the end of the pre-application by selecting “Continue to the Admission Portal” link at the end of the form. They will be directed to the login screen where they can the set up their password.

As a default, all resident parents will have Custody of their Prospect/Applicant if their accounts were created using the pre-application form, and Custody is what allows access to the Admission Portal. For exceptions, however, there is a flag on the “Relationship” record called “Admissions Access” which may be used to grant any person access to the Admission Portal for any prospect/applicant regardless of Custody.

Applicant Checklist Items

Checklist items are specific to each applicant and use various school-configured settings to determine whether it should or should not display to the applicant and specify whether this checklist item is required in order for the application to be reviewed. To the applicant, all checklist items will appear in a list on their application with an indication whether it is “required,” “optional,” and eventually “completed.” Once all the checklist items are completed the application is considered finished.

Parent and/or Student Questionnaires

The parent and/or student questionnaire web forms are checklist items that will capture any additional information that was not gathered through the pre-application and demographic web forms. Upon completion of the student questionnaire web form, the prospect record is converted to an applicant record for both the prospect student(s) and parent(s). These web forms are customizable for each school’s admissions process.

Admission Portal Configuration

All applicant checklist items’ functionality and display options can be configured through the “Application Checklist” link in the database. Schools can also configure the portal to open and close for registration at a particular time and add a message to display to all portal users through the “Admissions Portal Config” link. Additional portal configuration such as display settings and account setup specifications.

Person Admission Record

Upon submission of the pre-application, a person admission record is created for the prospect. This record updates as the person continues throughout the admissions process. This record provides a means of storing and managing the data collected as the person completes the admissions process. Schools can use this record to leave notes on the person’s Admission Portal for both checklist items and overall portal notes, manage checklist items, track file uploads, manage admissions decision statuses, and view enrollment decision notes.